After a nearly 10 month hiatus from CP... I present you with my latest tinfoil-conspiracy-kook bitch session.

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A recent peer-reviewed study on the effects of routine exposure to "safe" levels of Monsanto's GM corn and the chemical herbicide Roundup have revealed that the two toxins are directly linked to causing cancerous tumors. Since this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is noted that nearly every female rat in the study also developed mammary cancer.

This study, which was published in the highly-reputable journal Food and Chemical Toxicology, showed how rats fed a diet containing Monsanto's NK603 Roundup-resistant GM corn, which is widely cultivated in the U.S. today, died much earlier than GM-free control rats. Even rats fed just GM corn that had not been treated with Roundup ended up developing multiple ghastly tumors, indicating that some component of GM corn itself, apart from Roundup, is responsible for causing cancer.

It's fundamentally challenging for "Real" science in a world increasingly dominated by corporate influence.

Sadly, we can have no confidence at all in results which do not perform these standard tests to exclude that chance element. Nor in studies that do not give us the information to allow us (well, not me, obviously, but someone who knows what they’re doing) to perform such tests independently. These tests are not performed ergo we can have no confidence in the results.

So let’s roundup (sorry, sorry) what we actually know about the science of this paper. The researchers took a strain of rat which is known to suffer from a specific type of tumour. Indeed, that’s what this strain of rat is for: to allow us to study these types of tumour and the effects of any treatment upon them. They then fed some rats on GM corn, fed others Roundup itself in the water and a small number were fed on non GM corn and fresh water. They then observed tumours of the type this rat is known to be subject to. So far so obvious.

Their claim is that the rats fed GM corn and Roundup got more such tumours earlier than the control group. The criticism of this finding is that the control group was simply too small to allow such an observation to be made with any certainty. And they have not conducted, or at least not presented, the standard statistical tests which would allow they or us to determine whether the results were the outcome of pure blind chance.

This may be many things but it isn’t good science: which is why the various scientists quoted above are so unimpressed.

Almost as an aside it’s amusing to note that the finding they do claim seems not to be dose dependent. Most odd for as Paracelsus pointed out centuries ago it is the dose which is the poison. We actually seem to see that the male rats fed more GM corn and more Roundup do better than those fed less. An extremely odd finding but one which could perhaps be explained by the fact that one of the authors is a homeopath. The smaller the dose the larger the effect sort of thing. Perhaps they banged the bottles of Roundup laced water on a horsehair cushion for a bit or something?

An intensively promoted and controversial French study claiming to find high tumor rates and early mortality in rats fed genetically modified corn and “safe” levels of the herbicide Roundup has been dismissed in a rare joint statement from France’s six scientific academies. Here’s a link to the statement (in French). [*Here's an English translation.] Here’s an excerpt from coverage of the academies’ statement by Agence France-Presse:

“This work does not enable any reliable conclusion to be drawn,” they said, adding bluntly that the affair helped “spread fear among the public.” The joint statement—an extremely rare event in French science—was signed by the national academies of agriculture, medicine, pharmacy, sciences, technology and veterinary studies. It was sparked by research published in September that said rats fed with so-called NK603 corn and/or doses of Roundup herbicide developed tumors….

Two fast-track official investigations into the study, ordered by the government, are due to be unveiled on Monday.

The academies’ statement said: “Given the numerous gaps in methods and interpretation, the data presented in this article cannot challenge previous studies which have concluded that NK603 corn is harmless from the health point of view, as are, more generally, genetically modified plants that have been authorised for consumption by animals and humans.” In withering terms, it dismissed the study as “a scientific non-event.” “Hyping the reputation of a scientist or a team is a serious misdemeanour when it helps to spread fear among the public that is not based on any firm conclusion,” the academies said.

What kind of hornet’s nest was opened up for the GM industry in view of the retraction of the two year "Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize", by G E SÚralini et al, published in Food and Chemical Toxicology 2012, 50(11), 4221-31?

According to the article published December 5, 2013 in the Ecologist,

This arbitrary, groundless retraction of a published, thoroughly peer-reviewed paper is without precedent in the history of scientific publishing, and raises grave concerns over the integrity and impartiality of science. These concerns are heightened by a sequence of events surrounding the retraction:

the appointment of ex-Monsanto employee Richard Goodman to the newly created post of associate editor for biotechnology at FCT
the retraction of another study finding potentially harmful effects from GMOs (which almost immediately appeared in another journal)
the failure to retract a paper published by Monsanto scientists in the same journal in 2004, for which a gross error has been identified. [1]

The first bulleted item apparently speaks volumes as to Monsanto’s tactics in gaining corporate-style control over many segments of society, commerce, and government. Shouldn’t someone question the revolving door policy Monsanto’s former chief lobbyist Michael Taylor [2] has enjoyed at federal agencies, and now as FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods? Can that be why we have FDA-mandated “No GMO Labeling of Foods”?

Then there’s Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a former Monsanto employee – he was a company lawyer. [3] Does a corporate lawyer position warrant enough experience to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court?

The third bulleted item above ought to nail it down for everyone as to what’s really going on. It’s a shame what’s happening in science, the corporate world, and government during these trying times.

However, readers may recall that I wrote “GMOs: What Do the Stars Say Astrologically” back on August 2, 2013. Does astrology know more than we give it credit for?

Another publication, The Economist, also did a number on the apparent unethical retraction, and titled it tongue-in-cheek-like, “Smelling a rat.” [4]

Hopefully, the blatant shenanigans that go on in the name of vested interests to obfuscate serious scientific issues or prevail in control mechanisms that affect everyone’s well-being, e.g., the very food we eat, will turn the tide for consumers understanding GM issues, as it apparently has for those 105 very erudite and courageous scientists. Applause, applause, applause!

Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting.

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"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father ... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

"If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson

__________________
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father ... And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

"If the people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny." - Thomas Jefferson